I was wondering how they were even able to spread culture to their colonies when they first attempted communication with natives, there should be a language barrier, no? for example, The Spaniards when they tried to talk to the Filipino natives in the 1500s
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They forced native populations to adopt their culture and religion – including their language
The same way you teach a baby how to speak whatever language. The baby doesn’t know what an “apple” is until you point at it and say “apple”. Now, adults aren’t babies, so it’s easier for them to learn, but the principle still holds. For actions, you can mime the action and say what it is. Repeat for every thing that’s physically expressible, like emotions. Once you have actions and emotions, you can describe cultural things, like prayer or customs (“sit, clasp hands, murmur, eat, *happy*” would describe saying grace before a meal).
Native people weren’t stupid. They were capable of learning other languages which is what they did. Some would be kidnapped for the express purpose of learning the coloniser’s language. Language acquisition in that situation would be quite rapid. They would then be used as a go between.
Cultures spread concepts, not language; the flow of logic is the same.
Take numbers (assuming base 10) for example:
English has One, Two, Three, Four…, while Chinese has 一,二 , 三, 四…
In English I could speak/write and show 4 apples in a box (four), take one out (three), and add 1 more (four) etc… From a foreign perspective I can guess you have something to start with, but it got less, then it got more but back to original etc.. Over time I can guess you are counting and soon I can translate it to 四, 三, then 四, etc..
Now, this may be a bit tricky: Maybe the Chinese are using base 5 or 11? That’s why there’s a lot of trial and error just to understand this and that. This may sound absurd but the French uses a mix of base 10 and 20 but ultimately the math checks out. I think Hail Mary uses base 5 for Rocky.
Imagine if aliens came to earth. The amount of interest – and adoption – of their culture would be HUGE. The alien’s language would instantly become the hottest thing to learn, employers would all love to hire someone who speaks it or was ulturally aware, movies about them would be the biggest hits. And thats without any positive pressure from the aliens for them to do so.
More advanced meets less advanced is always going to be a recipe for rapid change by the less advanced.
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